SRINAGAR: The Directorate of School Education Jammu on Monday has issued an order that provides a significant relief to parents and their children who are between 5 to 6 years old. The order relaxes the age criteria for admission into Class 1 for the academic session of 2023-24.
“The students, who have completed two/three years in the pre-primary classes, as the case may be, and have attained the age of more than five years as on March 31, 2023, shall be admitted in the Class Ist in the academic session 2023-23,” stated a Government circular signed by Director School Education Jammu, Ravi Shankar Sharma.
The decision to provide age relaxation was made in response to numerous complaints from parents who reported that various schools were denying admission to their children in Class 1, citing the reason that their children’s age is below six years. According to the new National Education Policy, the age requirement for admission to Class 1 is six years, which has caused confusion and distress among parents.
“Traditionally, children have been enrolled in the Nursery class at the age of 2 years or more. As a result, these students have completed three years of pre-primary education and are now between 5 and 6 years old,” explained DSEJ Ravi Shankar Sharma.
Sharma further added that denying admission to these children for one year would result in the loss of an academic year since they are scheduled to begin their studies in Class 1 in the academic session of 2023-24.
